down to the ruins of the old bridge and hung around
for the best part of a half an hour. Then, in groups of five or six,
they walked to town, to look around there before returning to Oak
Hall. Dave and his chums passed Jason Sparr's hotel. He was on the
veranda and scowled at them, and Phil and some of the others scowled
in return.

"Have you done anything about that Sparr matter yet, Phil?" asked one
of the lads.

"No; but I will soon, you wait and see," was the growled-out reply.

On the main street of the town some of the boys separated, to do a
little shopping, and then some walked to the school, while others got
in the carryall that happened to be at hand. As a consequence some of
the students did not get back to Oak Hall until some time after the
supper hour.

Dave was alone when he entered the dining-hall and he was surprised to
see that neither Phil nor Roger was present. Ben was also absent and
likewise Shadow.

"Didn't some of them come in with you?" he asked of Buster.

"Gus and Luke did," was the reply. "I don't know where the others
are."

The meal was almost at an end when Phil, Ben, and Roger made their
appearance. They had but little to say, but Dave could see that
something was wrong.

"Had another wrangle with Jason Sparr," explained Phil, after the
meal. "He followed me to one of the stores, and I told him just what I
thought of him."

"And he threatened to have Phil arrested for defamation of character,"
added Ben.

"But he didn't dare to do it," declared the shipowner's son.

"Better let him alone," advised Dave. "You'll gain nothing by keeping
in hot water over it, Phil."

That night all of the boys had to study hard, and consequently they
retired to their dormitories early. The only exception was Polly Vane,
who had to go to Oakdale to meet a relative who would stop off but who
was going away again on the midnight train.

The boys studied until ten o'clock and then retired. Dave was
completely tired out and his head had hardly touched the pillow when
he was sound asleep.

He was awakened about two hours later by the sounds of excited
talking. He opened his eyes to behold Polly Vane standing in the
dormitory fully dressed, while Phil was sitting on the edge of the
bed, and Ben and Roger and some others were just rousing up.

"What's going on?" Dave asked, sleepily.

"A whole lot, if what Polly says is true," answered the shipowner's
son.

"But it is true, upon my word!" cr